The present invention relates generally to software application. More specifically, the present invention relates a method of validity of a mandatory data element's value may change during the life cycle of a software application.
Databases are central to meaningful transactions on a computer regardless of whether a computer is networked or not. A file stored in an ordinary personal computer hard drive is, ultimately, an entry in a database accessed through a file access table having file names and a plurality of memory locations. Moreover, changes to this file may be incremental in that the entire file is not rewritten immediately, but instead, a record is made of the desired changes. If two different entities try to access and modify a typical file, traditionally only one is permitted with the other one being locked out. This is a safety feature designed to avoid inconsistent changes that may interfere with the operation of software. Commercial databases are designed for different contexts but often have similar concerns during their use by client applications. A data element is a
A named unit of data that, in some contexts, is considered indivisible and in other contexts may consist of data items.
A named identifier of each of the entities and their attributes that are represented in a database.
A basic unit of information built on standard structures having a unique meaning and distinct units or values.
In electronic recordkeeping, a combination of characters or bytes referring to one separate item of information, such as name, address, or age.
Data elements usage can be discovered by inspection of software applications or application data files through a process of manual or automated application discovery and understanding. Once data elements are discovered they can be registered in a metadata registry. An existing data record opened for a given operation can have more than one data elements and some of them are mandatory data elements. The validity of a mandatory data element's value may change during the life cycle of a software application. The invalid values of a data element cause application errors or unexpected results. This is often resolved by database updates to fix the invalid data, but it requires database administrator intervention and may not always be feasible. The invalid condition can happen frequently, and it may be difficult to find a valid value for a given invalid data. This makes the database fix or any data fix programs harder to implement.
The present invention provides a unique way of handling such situation where known solutions require significant time and efforts to implement.